Elon Musk is the most daring entrepreneur of our time There are few industrialists in history who could match Elon Musk s relentless drive and ingenious vision A modern alloy of Thomas Edison Henry Ford Howard Hughes and Steve Jobs Musk is the man behind PayPal Tesla Motors SpaceX and SolarCity each of which has sent shock waves throughout American business and industry More than any other executive today Musk has dedicated his energies and his own vast fortune to inventing a future that is as rich and far reaching as a science fiction fantasy In this lively investigative account veteran technology journalist Ashlee Vance offers an unprecedented look into the remarkable life and times of Silicon Valley s most audacious businessman Written with exclusive access to Musk his family and his friends the book traces his journey from his difficult upbringing in South Africa to his ascent to the pinnacle of the global business world Vance spent more than fifty hours in conversation with Musk and interviewed close to three hundred people to tell the tumultuous stories of Musk s world changing companies and to paint a portrait of a complex man who has renewed American industry and sparked new levels of innovation all while making plenty of enemies along the way In 1992 Elon Musk arrived in the United States as a ferociously driven immigrant bent on realizing his wildest dreams Since then Musk s roller coaster life has brought him grave disappointments alongside massive successes After being forced out of PayPal fending off a life threatening case of malaria and dealing with the death of his infant son Musk abandoned Silicon Valley for Los Angeles He spent the next few years baffling his friends by blowing his entire fortune on rocket ships and electric cars Cut to 2012 however and Musk had mounted one of the greatest resurrections in business history Tesla SpaceX and SolarCity had enjoyed unparalleled success and Musk s net worth soared to mo